Soil & Site Evaluator - Need to Know I. The professional will understand the factors of soil development and demonstrate their importance to site evaluations. A. Topography 1. Landscape description 2. Landform description 3. Landscape position B. Parent materials NEED TO EDIT FOR ARIZONA SOIL 1. Lacustrine 2. Ice walled lake lacustrine deposits 3. Alluvium 4. River terrace deposits 5. Glacial outwash 6. Glacial till 7. Loess 8. Organic soils 9. Bedrock a. Weathering b. Soil formation c. Soil horizon development C. Climate 1. Precipitation 2. Temperature D. Time of soil development E. Vegetation and organisms RELATED TO WASTEWATER II. The professional will be able to identify and describe physical and morphological soil properties. A. Components of soil 1. Organic matter 2. Pore spaces B. Define and determine soil texture 1. Soil separates 2. Soil textural classes 3. Use soil textural triangle to determine soil texture class 4. Field determination of soil texture class C. Soil structure 1. Define soil structure 2. Factors influencing soil structure development a. Time b. Physical weathering c. Gluing agent 3. Field identification 1
a. Shape b. Grade c. Consistence 4. Appropriate sampling procedures 5. Significance of soil structure to onsite systems 6. Impacts on soil structure D. Soil porosity E. Soil water movement F. Soil colors 1. Influences on soil color of soil color to onsite systems 3. Use of soil color chart a. Hue b. Value c. Chroma d. Natural light conditions e. Moisture 4. Redoximorphic features a. Conditions for formation b. Identification c. Description (1) Concentrations (2) Depletions (3) Gleying d. Limitations 5. Interpretation of soil colors a. Depth to seasonally saturated soil 6. Field determination 7. Mottles a. Any color that differs from the matrix b. Can occur any where in soil 8. Stains and coatings a. Soil component(s) coating soil b. Occur in layers 9. Nodules 10. Other sources of soil color variation a. E horizon formation G. Bedrock determination H. Lithologic discontinuities 1. Abrupt textural boundary 2. Abrupt structural boundary 3. Abrupt color boundary I. Role of soil survey in site evaluation 1. General landscape, landform, and parent material(s) 2. Ranges of field and laboratory determined soil properties 3. Use and management limitations 2
J. Soil variability K. Disturbed soils 2. Determination 3. Interpretation 4. Solutions III. The professional will be able to identify and describe the following external landscape features. A. Landscape position B. Slope 1. Determination C. Vegetation D. Flooding 1. Determination E. WELLS IN THE AREA 1. USE OF ADWR WEBSITE 2. FINDING NEARBY WELLS IV. The professional will be able to demonstrate knowledge and apply the site evaluation procedures. A. Preliminary evaluation 1. Easements and property lines 2. Ordinary high water level of public water 3. Floodplain designation and flooding elevation 4. Soil survey determination of applicable characteristics 5. Legal lot description 6. Wellhead protection area B. Field evaluation 1. Site restrictions a. Utilities b. Trees 2. Setbacks - located, mapped, and displayed on site plan a. Well b. Property lines c. Building d. Water lines e. Easements 3
3. Surface features a. Vegetation b. Slope percent and direction c. Disturbed or compacted soil d. Flooding or run-on potential e. Landscape position 4. Blue Stake call a. Public utilities b. Private utilities 5. Soil investigation equipment a. Probe -?? USE (recommend removing from list of acceptable methods, lose ability to determine structure) b. Auger c. Soil pit 6. Soil investigation procedure a. Stake excavation(s) in system area -?? TEST HOLE STAKES? b. Discovery hole (soil morphology method) (1) Depth of each excavation recorded -?? (2) Depth and description of each horizon (3) Number of excavations needed c. Use of a standard method? (1) ASTM (2) USDA-NRCS (3) Other? 7. System sizing a. sizing by morphology (soil texture, structure, consistence) b. Soil sizing by percolation tests/ 8. Site protection 9. Site evaluation reporting requirements a. Preliminary and field evaluations b. All dates of work completed c. Site map drawn to scale and DIMENSIONS NOTED d. Depth to seasonally saturated soil, limiting condition, standing water table or flooding elevation e. Elevation of soil treatment system bottom f. Final soil absorption rate IS THIS SAR? (yes) g. Items to be shown on site map (vertical and horizontal) (1) Buildings (2) Source of drinking water (3) Contours (4) Slopes greater than 15% (5) Any limiting condition (6) North-south-east-west (7) Roads (8) Property dimensions (9) Trees 4
(10) Location of test holes/excavations (11) Other improvements (12) h. Potential construction issues i. Certified statement of the site evaluator 10. Other considerations a. Accountability b. Apprentice-ship needed? c. Oversight for all soils evaluation? d. Should the designer be able to design from the site evaluation map or must the designer visit the site? e. Feel needs to be standardized frequently, ongoing, calibration (1) Needs source of standards for texture (2) Structure is site-specific 5